Abstract: α-tricalcium phosphate (α-TCP) was prepared by a wet precipitation reaction between
calcium hydroxide and orthophosphoric acid solutions. The as-synthesised powder was then
characterised using a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) equipped with Energy Dispersive
Spectroscope (EDS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscope (FTIR).
Analyses revealed that a phase-pure powder with a Ca/P ratio of 1.5 was produced. In addition,
nanosized α-TCP particles of diameter ~ 70 nm were agglomerated to form larger particles of 10μm
in diameter. It was found that by the combination of attritor milling and solution evaporation, the
agglomerates of α-TCP nanoparticles could be broken down, and distributed evenly within the
poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) matrix. Thus, a α-TCP/PLGA nanocomposite was
successfully produced by a modified solution evaporation method at room temperature followed by
hot pressing at 150 °C. The achievable ceramic loading was approximately 38 wt.%, which was
confirmed by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA).

Abstract: Metal Matrix Composites (MMC) are very interesting materials for applications in the automotive and aerospace fields, since they combine the lightness of Aluminium with the strength of the ceramic reinforcement.
These materials are very difficult to join and conventional welding techniques are not applicable, whereas solid-state welding techniques, like Friction Stir Welding (FSW), could be a solution. However very hard tool materials will need to be chosen in order to overcome the problem of heavy abrasive tool wear.
In this work the wear behaviour of coated and uncoated steel tools has been investigated in the Friction Stir Processing of extruded bars in A359 + 20%SiC. AISI 1040 steel was used as the tool material in the hardened uncoated and annealed and coated versions. In the latter case the steel was coated with multilayer PVD AlSiCrN or AlSiTiN.
Coatings were fully characterised, in terms of thickness, hardness, adhesion and tribological behaviour. Further, tool wear analysis has been carried out using optical and electronic microscopy, with EDS analysis. The results gave some interesting information on the choice of tool in the FSW of MMC materials.

Abstract: Montmorillonite was introduced into the multicomponent epoxy resin by using the intercalation polymerization. Intercalation effect of epoxy/montmorillonite composite system and the influence of the addition of montmorillonite on the glass transition temperature (Tg), mechanical properties and barrier of H2S to coating under high temperature and pressure conditions were investigated. The results showed that it was easy to intercalate epoxy resin into the organic montmorillonite layers, and the interlayer spacing of Montmorillonite was further swelled. In addition, the epoxy/montmorillonite nanocomposite coating with intercalated/ exfoliated structures were prepared. Compared to pure epoxy coating, the heat resistance and mechanical properties of epoxy/montmorillonite nanocomposite coating were slightly improved, and the barrier efficiency to H2S was substantially increased under high temperature and pressure oil-gas environment.

Abstract: Calcium phosphate cements have attracted much attention as a drug carrier for local administration of bisphosphonates which are widely used to treat bone diseases such as osteoporosis and bone tumors. In the present study, to design the novel drug delivery carrier for bone metastasis without undesirable side effects, zoledronic acid (ZOL) loaded-bioresorbable β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) cement was fabricated on the basis of chelate-setting mechanism of inositol phosphate (IP6) using ZOL loaded-β-TCP powders. In order to examine the minimally effective concentration of ZOL on osteosarcoma with no effect on osteoblast viability, cells were treated with ZOL. At a concentration over 10 μM, ZOL significantly inhibited the proliferation of osteosarcoma, whereas osteoblasts proliferated normally. On the other hand, the ZOL showed concentration-dependent adsorption to IP6/β-TCP powders through chemisorption. Based on these results, we have fabricated ZOL loaded-IP6/β-TCP cements and evaluated the anti-tumor effect on osteosarcoma. We found that ZOL loaded-IP6/β-TCP cements have an inhibitory effect on osteosarcoma and induced apoptotic like-cell death. These results suggest that ZOL loaded-IP6/β-TCP cements are promising materials to develop the local treatment for bone metastasis.